Tensions between Russia and NATO member Poland have been cranking up to boiling point in recent days amid Russian claims that it has killed 'up to 80 Polish mercenaries' in missile strikes.
The reported losses come on the same day that Russia confirmed it has removed a Polish flag from a memorial commemorating the murder of thousands of Poles by the Soviet Union in 1940.
President Biden: "This fall, Roe is on the ballot."
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) June 24, 2022
PASS IT ON. pic.twitter.com/iPJgQXbqrQ
BREAKING: Congresswoman @AOC has arrived in front of the Supreme Court and is chanting that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade is “illegitimate” and calls for people to get “into the streets” | @TPUSA pic.twitter.com/jNkCYDrLtz
— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) June 24, 2022
Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters calls for pro-abortion extremists to "fight": "The hell with the Supreme Court! We will defy them!"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 24, 2022
"You ain't seen nothin' yet." pic.twitter.com/T35haOT6Dr
Speaker Pelosi on the SCOTUS ruling overturning Roe: "I would say good morning but it's not a good morning" pic.twitter.com/a3iSYa0sdI
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 24, 2022
Across the country, states have already passed bills restricting choice. If you're looking for ways to respond, @PPFA, @USOWomen, and many other groups have been sounding the alarm on this issue for years—and will continue to be on the front lines of this fight. pic.twitter.com/PpXBEcbL2S
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 24, 2022
It is important to understand that Korach was no common rabble-rouser, and his supporters were no common street-urchins. The two hundred and fifty people who rallied to Korach’s call were “princes of the congregation, those called to the meetings, men of renown” (16:2).
That is to say, “they were the most distinguished of the community; ‘those called to the meetings’ – they were skilled in determining leap years and months; ‘men of renown’ – famous throughout the world” (Sanhedrin 110a).
Rashi (commentary to Sanhedrin 52b, s.v. למה תלמיד) states unequivocally that these 250 men were תַּלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים, talmidei chachamim; and the Metzudat Zion (commentary to Ezekiel 23:23) calls them “gedolim” – Torah-leaders of the generation.
But maybe this should not be all that surprising: after all, Korach and his gang were continuing in the footsteps of the meraglim, who were also among the greatest Torah-leaders of the generation, and who so recently had led the nation into disaster by rejecting the Land of Israel.
Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal Hy”d (1885-1945), in his seminal work “Em ha-Banim Semeichah”, has fascinating insights into the spies’ character and the implications for today.
Rabbi Teichtal, who was initially fervently anti-Zionist, changed his views entirely during the Holocaust; he wrote “Em ha-Banim Semeichah” while on the run from the Nazis in 1943, and was murdered on a train transporting prisoners from Auschwitz to Mauthausen on 10th Sh’vat 5705 (24th January 1945).
He wrote:
“The holy Zohar and the Shelah explain that selfish motives caused the spies to commit [their sin]. They feared that they were fit to be princes [only] in the desert, but once they enter the Land of Israel new princes would be appointed. Let this be an instructive lesson.
"Even the greatest gadol in Torah and righteousness should not trust himself when he opposes the movement to build the Land. He should not think that his intentions are fully for the sake of Heaven, for he is certainly no greater in Torah and righteousness than the princes whom Moshe sent. Consider and study this well and you will see that it is the truth” (Chapter 3).
Turkey has detained several people allegedly working for an Iranian intelligence cell that planned to assassinate or snatch Israeli tourists in Istanbul, local media reported Thursday.
The news of the bust came weeks after Israel ordered its citizens in Istanbul to leave immediately, warning of an imminent Iranian attack plot targeting Israelis in Turkey.
Among those who were being targeted for kidnapping were a former Israeli diplomat and his wife, Hebrew media reported, citing Turkish outlets. The diplomat’s name was not published.
Israel’s Mossad spy agency chartered a private plane to immediately bring the pair and others back to the country, reports said.
The suspects, who were not all Iranian nationals, were detained in a raid last week in three houses in Istanbul’s popular Beyoglu district, the IHA news agency reported. The outlet said eight people had been arrested.
Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reported on Thursday that Turkish authorities detained five Iranian nationals on Wednesday suspected of involvement in the alleged plot to assassinate Israeli citizens in Istanbul.
Reports of the detentions came as Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid arrived in Turkey Thursday for high-level talks, amid a recent rapprochement between the countries after years of frayed ties.
The terror warnings had both strained ties as Ankara chafed at being portrayed as an unsafe tourism destination in international media reports, but also allowed the two countries to showcase newly revived ties by cooperating on intelligence and security.
According to Channel 13 news, Israel was considering somewhat walking back its warning following Lapid’s visit, with the travel advisory revised to state that only non-essential travel should be canceled rather than all visits.
The warning, however, remained in force as of Thursday evening.
“We will complete the work [of thwarting attacks] and we won’t hesitate to lower the travel warning, maybe in a few days,” a security source was quoted as saying by Channel 12 news.
“We’re at the beginning of the end [of the crisis],” the source added.
The network, without citing a source, also reported that there were believed to be three more Iranian cells in Istanbul.
Iran and Israel have been engaged in a years-long shadow war but tensions have ratcheted up following a string of high-profile incidents Tehran has blamed on Israel.
The Islamic Republic claimed Israel was responsible for the killing of Revolutionary Guards Colonel Hassan Sayyad Khodaei in his Tehran home on May 22.
Khodaei’s assassination was the most high-profile killing inside Iran since the November 2020 killing of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
IHA said Iran sent agents disguised as businessmen, tourists and students to Istanbul to assassinate Israelis in retaliation for Khodaei’s murder and other attacks.
It said the Iranians had split into four groups of two assassins who could better track their Israeli targets.
The suspects rented apartments and hotel rooms in the area, and had $30,000 to set up a network of agents.
Police seized two pistols and two silencers in searches conducted in houses and hotels where the suspects were staying, according to the Hurriyet report.
“The hitmen in the assassination team, who settled in two separate rooms on the second and fourth floors of a hotel in Beyoglu, were [detained] with a large number of weapons and ammunition,” IHA said.
Channel 12 reported that the Mossad and Turkish security forces were working in full cooperation, and that some of the people arrested in the operations were Iranians and others were locals.
Israeli security forces will continue operating in Turkey for at least a few more days, the network said.
Later Thursday, Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which also handles operations outside of the country, announced that it was replacing the head of its intelligence unit Hossein Taeb, who had held the position for over a decade.
Taeb has been repeatedly named in Hebrew media reports as the man behind the planned attacks on Israelis in Turkey.
Guards commander Major General Hossein Salami appointed General Mohammad Kazemi to head the intelligence organization instead, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.
The reported arrests were the first time that Turkish media have reported on the subject of Iranian attacks that have been making headlines in Israel for over two weeks amid warnings from officials of Iranian cells on the loose in Turkey.
A report last week claimed that several Israelis visiting Istanbul were whisked out of Turkey the week before by Israeli security officials, who were acting on intelligence showing that the visitors were at immediate risk from Iranian assassins.
Media reports that Israeli and Turkish intelligence were cooperating in rounding up a network of Iranian operatives and that several attacks were foiled, were confirmed Monday by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is launching an investigation following reports that the Smithtown Library Board of Trustees voted to pull LBGTQ materials from the children’s section at four branches – during Pride month.
“Public places are prohibited by law from engaging in discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Everyone — and particularly our state’s young people — deserves to feel welcome at the library. For many LGBTQ+ kids, libraries are a place of refuge and information where they can be welcomed and affirmed for who they are,” the governor said.
Hochul likened the policy to a Florida law restricting the discussion of LGBTQ issues with very young school children.
“We will not tolerate a ‘Don’t Say Gay’ philosophy taking root in our state. I look forward to seeing the Division of Human Rights take prompt action to investigate these reports,” Hochul said in the Thursday press release.
The move – which reportedly included removing LBGTQ books from the children’s section – also earned Smithtown libraries a rebuke from the New York Library Association.
“This ban of any displays related to Pride sets a dangerous precedent for libraries across the state because it normalizes the victimization of LGBTQ+ youth in their schools and in their communities, which has dire consequences,” reads a statement from the association.
A representative of the Board did not respond to a request for comment.
The card title is “sequence of events”, and the word “YOU” appears in caps throughout the list. The list even reminds the president to say “hello” and take his seat.
The list of instructions includes:
-YOU enter the Roosevelt Room and say hello to participants
-YOU take YOUR seat
-YOU give brief comments
-YOU thank participants
-YOU depart
This man is supposed to be the leader of the free world. Is it any wonder why foreign leaders have zero respect?
She wrote one final post, including this excerpt: “I am making this choice to close this page in order to make space for something higher. I want more אמת and more קדושה in my life and by extension for all of you my dear followers.”
The decision comes one day after Wednesday’s “Nekadeish” event for women warned of the dangers of technology and social media, although it’s not clear if there is a connection.
The US administration, led by Joe Biden, is trying to erase any achievement of the previous administration.
The Americans are interested in re-establishing the Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem alongside the American embassy, to the displeasure of Israel.
Jay Shapiro thinks that the Biden administration is trying to produce gestures to the Palestinians that will come at the expense of Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem, and this has been done quite consciously.
The latest developments in Israeli politics provided President Joe Biden with a good excuse to postpone his visit to Israel next month. With the collapse of Israel’s coalition government this week, the country is saddled with an interim government headed by an unelected prime minister in Yair Lapid who is about to launch his campaign to hold onto the office. Scheduling a visit by the leader of Israel’s sole superpower ally at the start of what promises to be a bitterly fought election campaign will make it clear that Washington is far from neutral when it comes to the outcome.
And that is exactly the impression that Biden is hoping to leave when he goes to the Jewish state in July.
Pass the popcorn watching DemonRats eat each other alive!
Rep. Carolyn Maloney accused her longtime-colleague-turned-opponent Rep. Jerry Nadler of using his religious faith as a “divisive tactic” in the heated primary race.
Maloney said Nadler, who is Jewish, was playing identity politics as a method of appealing to voters when the race should be focused on the issues that affect voters.
“It’s a strange way to run, it’s sort of like, ‘Vote for me, I’m the only woman, or I’m the only white person, I’m the only Black person,’” Maloney told the New York Times. “Why don’t you put forward your statement, your issues, what you’ve done and the merit you bring to the race?”
The Times article focused on the decline in New York City’s Jewish representation in Congress over the year — with the city at risk of losing its last remaining Jewish congress member, Nadler, should Maloney win.
Allies of three decades, Nadler and Maloney, found themselves facing off head-to-head in the primary race for the 12th Congressional District when a court-appointed special master redrew the district to include portions of Nadler’s current 10th district.
Maloney’s accusation of Nadler using identity politics as a divisive tactic was at least the second time she fired an attack at her former ally this month. In early June, she accused Nadler of sexism for allegedly asking her to step aside and let him run for their newly-combined district.
She told the Post that she believed Nadler would not have asked a male rival to do the same.
The pair each started their Congressional careers in the ’90s with Nadler representing a district running down the Upper West Side in the 10th District and Maloney holding down the Upper East Side in the 12th District.
In May, the special master combined the neighborhoods into one district, the new 12th District. Despite the new district being 60% Maloney’s, Nadler jumped into the race, rather than potentially face alien territory in his newly redrawn 10th district — which has now become a fiercely competitive open seat.
The political careers of the two Democrats, who are each longstanding powerhouses and committee chairs in Congress, desperately hinge on who wins the Aug. 32 primary.
The new 12th district they are both hoping to win is believed to be the most Jewish in the country, according to the Times.
While Nadler was raised Jewish and worships at B’nai Jeshurun, a historic synagogue in the Upper West Side, Maloney, who is Presbyterian, has attempted to appeal to Jewish voters throughout her campaign.
For instance, her campaign highlighted her bill promoting Holocaust education in schools as well as her vote against former President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal — which Nadler supported.
I'm wondering what would happen if Hocos-Pocus lost the general election?
I'm reminded of what the Yaavetz said about the Inquisition. He remarked that it was the leaders and the gedoilim that were the ones who converted, the "Poshiteh Yid" stood by their Creator and were steadfast in their beliefs.
For a couple of $$$, these Torah leaders will endorse people that stand against all Torah values, and just yesterday Yitzchok Fleischer the "Chief Tuchis-Lekker" invited that sick woke dog, DeBlassio to Boro Park to clear the path to endorse him for a congressional seat; how pathetic!
The leaders of prominent Chassidic sects and school administrators in Borough Park have endorsed Governor Kathy Hochul and her running mate, Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado for re-election on Tuesday.The endorsement is signed by a coalition of congregations calling itself “Borough Park United” that includes the Bobov, Belz, Satmar, Sanz-Klausenburg, Bobov 45, Gur, Viznitz, Pupa, Svker, Spinka, Rachmastrivka, among other sects. The heads of Bais Yaakov, Bnos Chaya, Bnei Torah, Tomer Dvora, Vien and other major schools have also added their signatures.
“In these critical and challenging times, it is important to have sympathetic representation in the halls of government so that we can continue with our religious practices without interference, have our streets and neighborhoods safe and protected, and see our needs addressed in a respectful manner,” the statement reads.
The leaders stressed that Gov. Hochul has managed to develop positive working relationships with the Jewish community and has been proven as a reliable and sympathetic ally in her years in government.
The endorsement comes a week ahead of the June 28 Democratic primary for governor and lieutenant governor, giving the incumbent a major boost and locking up support in the Orthodox community, who historically have proven to be an influential voting bloc in local elections.
Recent polls show Hochul with a large lead over her primary challengers. The letter urges community members to come out to vote as a token of appreciation and to show the governor and the state’s leadership that they have earned the community’s trust and have their back.
The primary is on Tuesday, June 28. Early voting started on June 18 through Sunday, June 26.
Seeking the endorsement of Borough Park Orthodox leaders in his run for Congress, former mayor Bill de Blasio apologized for a 2020 tweet berating Jews for large gatherings held during the pandemic.
In a video of Sunday’s meeting, called by an activist of the Bobov Hasidic movement, de Blasio is seen being asked about the tweet. In the tweet, he blasted “the Jewish community” following the packed funeral for a rabbi who died of COVID-19, and said the NYPD had been instructed to “summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups.”
“It was a mistake and I shouldn’t have done it,” de Blasio said in the video. “It was a moment of passion and pain over what was happening in the city.”
Greenblatt attacked this week’s bombshell Supreme Court ruling, forcing the state of Maine to stop discriminating against religious schools.
On Tuesday, he posted a tweet saying: “We are deeply concerned by yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in #CarsonvMakin. While private religious education can be costly, this ruling weakens the core principle of church-state separation and could set a highly problematic precedent.”
His name is Herman Kahan, he is a Haredi Jew from Brooklyn, and on Tuesday it was reported that he had won the $126,000,000 jackpot of the March 8 Mega Millions drawing. His winning numbers, although it’s probably too late to do anything with them, were: 07 18 38 58 64 and the Mega Ball 24.
The NY Lottery said about the win: “What makes this even more interesting is that the winner is a New York Lottery subscriber. The subscription program offered by the New York Lottery lets players enter into every drawing for the duration of their pre-paid subscription.
“The winning ticket for the March 8 drawing was worth $126 million. The cash value of the jackpot (if the winner wants to withdraw the whole amount at once – DI) is $85,848,424 before taxes,” the statement continued.
We’re told that after taxes, Herman took home $52,559,839.00 – just $161 short of $52,560,000.
It’s interesting to note that local Jewish newspapers inevitably added to their headline something about hitting the winner for charity, and Yeshiva World reported: “Photos of various individuals are already viral on WhatsApp – all of them confirmed to be false,” and added, “While all of our community detectives will be hard at work trying to figure out who he is, it will take one Tzedakah or Yerushalmi Meshulach two minutes to figure it all out.”
Poor Herman is about to find out that $52 million don’t go very far…
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| Harav Ha'gaon Brant Rosen Shlitah |
Progressive synagogue Tzedek Chicago, founded in 2015 and led by Rabbi Brant Rosen, recently made an announcement that elicited strong reactions in much of the Jewish press and beyond. Opting to change their identity from “non-Zionist” to “anti-Zionist,” they released the following statement:
While we appreciate the important role of the land of Israel in Jewish tradition, liturgy and identity, we do not celebrate the fusing of Judaism with political nationalism…We are anti-Zionist, openly acknowledging that the creation of an ethnic Jewish nation-state in historic Palestine resulted in an injustice against the Palestinian people – an injustice that continues to this day.
The fusion of Judaism and nationalism is an important and complex point as that was the initial protest against Zionism in many liberal Jewish circles in America. Zionism “nationalizes” the Jew, and Judaism, in ways that ostensibly subverted the normalization of the Jew as citizen in the post-emancipated Diaspora. This is how it was articulated in the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform of Reform Judaism in America which stated that “we [Jews] no longer consider ourselves a nation, but a religious community.”
France’s top administrative court ruled Tuesday against allowing body-covering “burkini” swimwear in public pools for religious reasons, arguing that it violates the principle of government neutrality toward religion.
While worn by only a small number of people in France, the head-to-ankle burkini draws intense political debate in the country.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin hailed the ruling by the Council of State as a “victory for secularism.” Some Muslim women decried it as unfairly targeting their faith and their bodies, and based on outdated misconceptions about Islam.
The city of Grenoble, led by a mayor from the Greens party, voted last month to allow women to wear burkinis in public pools after campaigning by local activists. The city also voted to allow women to swim topless, as part of a broader relaxation of swimwear rules.
Several protesters were arrested after they smashed the store’s front door and glass, and clashed with police officers.
Hundreds of Charedim attended the protest. Posters around the city called on the public to demonstrate against “isolated cell phone shops which remain unsupervised and a threat to the city’s residents”.
According to the Kikar Shabbos website, organizers claimed that the store sells defective devices, but in fact the store refuses to pay for kosher supervision from the “Communications Vaad”, yet insists on selling kosher devices.
The “mostly peaceful” demonstration turned violent when protesters tried to break into the store and eventually smashed the front door. A number of people were injured due to shattered glass.
The storeowner posted a video on social media blasting the protesters, saying: “Complete vandalism. Breaking our door…violent people, this is not religion, not Judaism, this is nothing, it’s against everything we know.”
Israel has canceled educational trips to Poland for thousands of high school students this summer, claiming the Polish government is trying to control the Holocaust-studies curriculum taught to Israeli children, the Israeli foreign minister said.
The announcement by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid reignited longstanding tensions between the two countries over Poland’s treatment of its Jewish citizens during the Holocaust.
In his comments, Lapid said Poland has barred Israeli delegations from learning about the role of Polish citizens in collaborating with Nazis during the Holocaust.
“They wanted to dictate what was allowed and what wasn’t allowed to be taught to Israeli children who go to Poland and that we cannot agree with,” he told a news conference on Wednesday.
Poland was the first country invaded and occupied by Adolf Hitler’s regime and never had a collaborationist government. Members of Poland’s resistance and government-in-exile struggled to warn the world about the mass killing of Jews, and thousands of Poles risked their lives to help Jews.
However, Holocaust researchers have collected ample evidence of Polish villagers who murdered Jews fleeing the Nazis, or Polish blackmailers who preyed on helpless Jews for financial gain. Six million Jews, including nearly all of Poland’s roughly 3 million Jews, were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust, and major Nazi death camps were in Poland.
These dueling narratives have been a source of great tension between Israel and Poland, which otherwise have strong relations.
Lapid referred to a Polish bill, passed in 2018, that penalizes anyone who blames Poles as a nation for the World War II crimes committed by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland. At the time, Israel and United States slammed the law, saying it hindered free speech.
On Wednesday, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski posted on Twitter that “the current formula of organized trips of Israeli youth to Poland requires changes due to systematic problems leading to the strengthening of false stereotypes, which negatively impacts Polish-Israeli relations.” Jablonski also said that Poland doesn’t wish to halt Israeli student trips but, rather, to give them a different formula that will improve Polish-Israeli ties.
Israel’s Education Ministry had announced the cancellations earlier last week but gave no explanation for its decision.
Young Israelis traditionally travel to Poland in the summer between 11th and 12th grade to tour former Nazi camps in order to learn about the Holocaust and memorialize those murdered. The trip has long been considered a milestone in Israeli education and, prior to the pandemic, some 40,000 Israeli students participated each year. About 7,000 were registered to go this summer, according to the Education Ministry.
Ties between Poland and Israel have been gradually fraying in recent years over the matter. In 2021, Israel protested a Polish law seen as banning claims for restitution of some seized property by Holocaust victims.
At the time, Poland recalled its ambassador to Israel, while Israel’s ambassador to Poland was also recalled. Ties have since improved in the wake of Israel-Polish cooperation on the Ukrainian refugee crisis.
Lapid, whose late father was a Holocaust survivor, thanked Poland for its help in rescuing Jewish refugees from Ukraine but said the high school delegations could not continue under the current circumstances.
